Trump brings defamation suit against E. Jean Carroll

Donald Trump has filed a defamation suit against E. Jean Carroll, alleging the writer falsely accused him of rape — after a Manhattan federal jury found the former president liable for sexual assault in her civil case against him.

Trump, 77, filed counterclaims against the former “Ask E. Jean” advice columnist on Tuesday accusing her of defaming him when she maintained in a CNN interview that he raped her, despite the jury only determining he should be on the hook for sexual abuse.

Carroll, 79, “made these statements knowing each of them were false or with reckless disregard for their truth and falsity,” the filing alleges.

Jurors on May 9 awarded Carroll a $5 million verdict in the case, finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation for claiming in Oct. 22 that he didn’t know Carroll and calling her accusations a hoax after she went public.

Carroll has another lawsuit pending against Trump for allegedly defaming her in a series of public statements made after she came out with her accusations in June 2019.

She has since added to her claims comments that Trump made after the verdict from last month, and is seeking $10 million in damages.

“Despite a jury verdict to the contrary, Ms. Carroll persistently defames Mr. Trump and falsely accuses him of an act he did not commit. As a result, we are filing a counterclaim today to seek damages to the fullest extent permitted by law,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement.

Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan said most of Trump’s claims in his countersuit are barred by the statute of limitations, and that the others won’t stand up in court.

“Donald Trump again argues, contrary to both logic and fact, that he was exonerated by a jury that found that he sexually abused E Jean Carroll by forcibly inserting his fingers into her vagina,” Kaplan said Wednesday.

“Trump’s filing is thus nothing more than his latest effort to delay accountability for what a jury has already found to be his defamation of E. Jean Carroll,” Kaplan added. “But whether he likes it or not, that accountability is coming very soon.”

An embattled Trump faces two criminal cases, including a 34-count indictment from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on charges of falsifying business records.

Trump, who is running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, is also charged in a Florida federal case with hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left office and then later allegedly lying about it.

He has pleaded not guilty in both cases.